Nutritional food labeling practices and standards

Nutritional Labeling Policy: Beyond the Caloric Numbers

Under policy regulations stipulated by the Food and Drug Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food manufacturers are required to provide information on the total calories present in the serving size on the product's nutritional label ("The Food Label," 1999, FDA). In theory, by providing such information the consumer has more power to make healthy calorie 'budgeting' choices regarding his or her daily intake. Unlike more confusing and general labels, such as, for example a product's statement that it meets the government's guidelines for being low fat, lite, or healthy, information about the numerical value of a product's calories do have the advantage of being statistically objective. For example, someone might feel that they could eat unlimited amounts of fat free foods, even though jelly beans are a fat free food and often labeled as such -- though jelly beans are hardly low in calories or a dieter's friend. A conscientious dieter can look on the back of the bag and see how many jelly beans equal a certain number of calories, and ignore the product puffery.

Yet calorie labeling has not reduced the American waistline, and America's obesity crisis has continued to grow. "Even if people read labels, they [labels] can't affect food choices that contribute to obesity unless consumers read them and have a basic understanding of how the calories...fit into their total day's caloric allotment for maintaining weight" (Cox 2006). It is true that most food labels do have a notation that the average female diet is approximately 2,000 calories and the average male's that of 2,400. But the average calorie allotment is hardly uniform for all Americans, rather body composition, age, and activity level must also be a consideration as well as gender. Also, to create a calorie-controlled meal plan, all foods must be included, not just some foods, when figuring the individual's daily calorie intake and how it might contribute to weight loss or weight gain. In other words, a consumer cannot blithely be happy that all of the foods eaten for the day are less than 300 calories, if the overall daily calorie total exceeds his or her total expenditure.

Unfortunately, no consumer can be 'forced' to read calorie labels in a correct fashion. A recent study by the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found "significant numbers of people surveyed indicated that they lacked either the knowledge or inclination to effectively use labels...it appears that a large portion of the population isn't interested in having (nutritional information)" (Cox 2007). In a 2004 Food and Agriculture survey, "one-third of all participants were unable to accurately target their daily calorie needs" and this was "based on an expansive definition of 1500-2500 kcals" while "31% of participants looked at calories but only 5% looked at serving size" (Cox 2007). Calorie totals mean little if a person does not understand that a serving of ice cream that is 260 calories is 1/4 of a pint.